As just seen, the spectrum of hindu religiousness is found within four major sects or. The branches of hinduism january 30, 20 ambaa choate patheos explore the worlds faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality. Hinduism sects a brief discussion on the major sects of hinduism. One of the oldest known religious texts is the kesh temple hymn of ancient sumer, a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 bce. The four denominations of hinduism a splendrous lotus with four superb petals for over 200 years, western scholars have struggled to understand hinduism, a faith whose followers seemed to outsiders to arbitrarily worship any one of a dozen gods as the supreme, a religion vastly diverse in its beliefs, practices and ways of worship. Numbering in the millions, the sadhus of india are worshipped by hindus as representatives of the gods. Hinduism has many sects, and is sometimes divided into the following.
Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata. In the hindu religion, the founder was not one person alone. Hinduism also includes yogic traditions and wide span of daily. Scholars regard hinduism as a combination of different indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism.
Hinduism is an indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practiced in the indian subcontinent and parts of southeast asia. Hinduism a christian examines and responds to hinduism. Books and treatises were still published but with the absence of overt political messages. List of world religions and founders, religious books. The different gods and goddesses in the hindu mythology are derived from these books. Generic types of hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views vary from folk and vedic hinduism to bhakti tradition, as in vaishnavism. Because religion has no specific founder, its difficult to trace its origins and history. Similarly, different activities are considered appropriate for different stages of life, with. We are trying to list out here as many hindu scriptures and books as possible. The nirankaris were members of trading castes and followers of baba dayal, who had preached a return to the. Although the name hinduism is relatively new, having been coined by british writers in the first decades of the 19th century, it refers to a rich cumulative tradition of texts and practices, some of which date to the 2nd millennium bce or possibly. Tk waters has a bachelors degree in literature and religious studies and a.
Both religions share common beliefs and have their differences. Hinduisms tolerance or rather acceptance of people who do not believe in religion and people of other religions jews, christians, zoroastrians, muslims is there in the history and geography books for everyone to see. Sruti consists of four vedas, upanishads, brahmanas, aranyakas, and bhagavadgita while smriti consists of manu smriti, 18 puranas, ramayana, and mahabharata and other hindu holy books. Babis followed the bab gate who was a man named ali muhammad, born in 1821 who claimed to be the forerunner for the 12th imam returned in 1844 a. The different sects within hinduism have always been free to disagree, though each sect has its particular guidelines and there is an overall respect for dharma. They have a large number of different sects hindson and caner 262265. Universalism implies pluralism, a diversity of views, not mere uniformity or one view or belief for all. However, vedas being not consistent in their philosophies, different schools of thought emerged in india either by accepting or rejecting the authority of the vedas.
It depends upon what perspective you are considering it from. These four denominations share rituals, beliefs, and traditions, but each denomination has a different philosophy on how to achieve lifes ultimate goal moksa, liberation. This fullcolor study captures their world of ancient magical rituals, religious symbols, and ascetic practices. Currently the most popular sect of hinduism with largest following. There are several sub sects within saivism such as adisaiva, pasupatha, kashmiri, vira and gorakanatha sub sects. In hinduism, attaining the highest life is a process of removing the bodily distractions from life, allowing one to eventually understand the brahma nature within. It is quite a beautifully done and fascinating study of the ancient traditions of shaivite and vaishnavite sadhus holy men of india. And within those sects there are gurus and their lineages. Their path is one of knowledge and devotion, renunciation and realization, sexual energy, spiritual power, divine intoxication, and mystical union. Modern hinduism is divided into four major devotional sects. Based on the deity of worship, style of worship, ways of worship and the philosophy followed hinduism is differentiated into these sects. Brahman is the name of god or the supreme deity talked about in the vedas.
Throughout its extensive history, there have been many key figures teaching different philosophies and writing innumerable holy books. Sometimes the term is used for sampradayas led by a particular guru with a particular philosophy hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many practising hindus do not claim to belong to any particular denomination or tradition. It started as the faith of aryan tribes that migrated to india, and their four holy books, the vedas, are formally venerated by. There are several subsects within saivism such as adisaiva, pasupatha, kashmiri, vira and gorakanatha sub sects. In the hindu religion, the founder was not one person. Download important scriptures on advaita philosophynon dualism school of hinduism. There are also other holy books like puranas, ramayana, mahabharta etc. Hinduism comprises numerous sects or denominations. Hinduism and buddhism are the two main religions of ancient india.
Many rituals change from location to location, and even within a small sect of people in. Smriti literature is considered less authoritative than sruti. The rival claims of the followers of shiva and vishnu are found in most indian texts. Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death and rebirth governed by individuals karma.
However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. There are many subdivisions within buddhism, but most can be classified into three major branches. The devotional sects do not generally regard other sects as rivals, and each sect freely borrows beliefs and practices from others. Vaishnavism, shaivism and shaktism are the most prevalent hindu sects. Hinduism starts with 3 trimurti, or deities and ends with over. They are rig veda, sama veda, yajur veda and atharva veda. Members of different hindu sects for the most part have lived side by side relatively.
However if you check the holy books it is given that one worships other. Hinduism, major world religion originating on the indian subcontinent and comprising several and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were composed around 1500 b. Hinduism consists of different sects like shaivism, vaishnavism, and shaktism. Two sects, the nirankaris and the namdharis, or kuka sikhs, emerged in northwestern punjab during the latter part of ranjit singhs reign. These texts were initially handed down by word of mouth from teacher to student. Many of the old customs are overlooked, but some traditions, such as only marrying within a specific caste, are still embraced. There is no one holy book, there are many books that contribute to the. Theravada and mahayana buddhism went their separate ways in the first century ce. Ghulat sects the most innovative ones alawites drink wine and believe in a trinity of mohammed, ali, and saliman alfarisi.
The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. This is the underlying principle behind all the different sects of hinduism. Roughly 95 per cent of the worlds hindus live in india. Hinduism is widely practiced in south asia mainly in india and nepal. Each has a multitude of guru lineages, religious leaders, priesthoods, sacred literature, monastic. While there are a number of different sects of christianity today, from roman catholic to seventhday adventist, there are even more that were put down by mainstream christianity. Its followers, called christians, often believe christ is the son of the holy trinity and walked the earth as the incarnate form of god the father. Hindu denominations are traditions within hinduism centered on one or more gods or goddesses, such as shiva, vishnu and brahma.
In hindu history, the distinction of the six orthodox. Christianity vs hinduism difference and comparison diffen. It is often referred to as sanatana dharma, a sanskrit phrase meaning the eternal law, by its followers. They all acknowledge siva as the supreme self, but prescribe different beliefs, methods and practices for liberation. Concept of god in hinduism download important scriptures on advaita philosophynon dualism school of hinduism shankara bhashya in hindu vedic religion there is only one supreme god which exist at two different levels of reality. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, and hindus refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history. Hindu religion is a dominant eastern religion ranking third in the world. Some differences are the gods worshiped, the founders of the religions and the holy books worshiped. Theravada way of the elders, mahayana greater vehicle and vajrayana diamond vehicle. Hinduism was developed over 3500 years ago by the aryans. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. In simple words, hinduism is a way of life, which helps you to liberate from the cycle of birth and rebirth. These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva.
The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. The hindu religion was developed around the caste system. Each of these sects is also divided into subgroups. Like most major religions, judaism worldwide is comprised of several different sects. While the major hindu sects focus on bhakti to gods in the trimurti, shaktism. The main divisions in current hinduism are shaivism, shaktism, vaishnavism, and smartha. In fact, its easier to think of these categories as scale or spectrum, with smriti at one end, and shruti at the other. There are a wide range of diverse beliefs in hinduism, and even different sects, but typically most hindus do hold to five main beliefs. For these reasons hinduism is referred as way of life or a family of religions. The four denominations of hinduism himalayan academy. The upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. In other words, hinduism is a conglomeration of different doctrines and traditions mainly based on vedas and modified from.
Eckankar is a new religious movement based on a 19thcentury. The epic of gilgamesh from sumer, although only considered by some scholars as a religious text, has origins as early as 2150 bce, and stands as one of the earliest literary works that includes various mythological figures and themes. The concluding portions of the vedas are called upanisads. Buddhism vs hinduism difference and comparison diffen. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis 6 note 4. These sects arent very different from each other, they have common basics of moksha enlightenment, karma, reincarnation, guru and others.
This is to imply that all the phases of life have equal importance. Hinduism does not possess a single holy book like bible in christianity and quran in islamic dharma. In shaktism, shakti mother divine is considered as the supreme being. Hinduism worldview hinduism is a panetheism belief system in which there are over 330 million different deities. The concept of dharma was introduced in new texts, and other faiths, such as. Hinduism is the predominant religion in the indian subcontinent. Download the bible, the holy quran, the mahabharata, and thousands of free pdf ebooks on buddhism, meditation, etc. The sacred books in hinduism and buddhism 1581 words. Hinduism holy book important books and writings of hinduism. Even within hinduism there are innumerable sects and subsects, which peacefully coexist. Hinduism simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Read and learn for free about the following article.
In addition to the orthodox, there are several sikh sects, four of which are particularly important. Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Christianity broadly consists of individuals who believe in the deity jesus christ. Tolerance in hinduism practical philosophy and rational. Both religions are similar and different at the same time. In addition to the four theistic sects, there are six schools of vedantic philosophy within hinduism. Confucian philosophers like dai zhen gave the impression of spearheading scholarship in the humanities the classics, philosophy and literature. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. However, the branches of judaism active today are not the same as those seen in the bible, so the ancient and modern eras have to. Hinduism is about understanding brahma, existence, from within the atman, which roughly means self or soul, whereas buddhism is about finding the anatman not soul or not self. The first sacred writings of hinduism, which date to about 1200 bce, were. Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book. Mahayana then subdivided into several diverse schools, such as zen.
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